「Puzzled」
by Aizawa Harumi
Summary: Shintaro stood at the classes doorway, brushed an arm onto his face while huffing and panting. Ayano was there, working on her jigsaw puzzle.


**PS : English isn't my native language, so sorry about the mistakes I make ;;w;;**

Enjoy~!^^

**Puzzled**

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Shintaro stood at the classes doorway, brushed an arm onto his face while huffing and panting. Ayano _was _there, working on her jigsaw puzzle.

Soon that girl raised her eyebrows as she noticed him, "Ah, hey!" she called and was waving her hand invitingly. Shintaro slightly nodded and moved. He pulled a chair in front of her desk to joined the brown haired, turning it to face her.

"See? It's almost done!" she exclaimed. There was no response. But Ayano didn't seem to care anyway. "Crap" was all she would say in between silence as her hand slipped for the wrong pieces of puzzle.

Shintaro quietly watched her. The look on her face had worsened. There were dark circles around that girl's swollen and rosy eyes -also visible dried trails of water painted her cheeks..  
Ayano gave an abrupt chuckle, "I can always feel your stare, Shintaro" The boy blinked twice.

She glanced up to meet those eyes, "I'm okay. Really."

"I know." Came his quick reply. Ayano smiled sheepishly, "No arguments huh?" The black haired shrugged his shoulders. "C'mon, we need to finished the puzzle together, this is seriously getting fun!"

Surprisingly, Shintaro barely resisted back there. He himself amazed. So the two of them started to work on Ayano's puzzle. Sun had began to set without them noticing. Silent breaths were the only noise they could heared.

"Do you think Takane-senpai should be just honest about her feelings?" she managed to asked randomly. "Towards Haruka-senpai" The girl in red scarf added.

Shintaro placed his chin on his linked fingers, "..that's unusual for you to ask. Why would you care that much?" he threw her another question.

Ayano gave a demanding look, "Just tell me what you think.."

He yawned, "Perhaps." She tilted her head in gesture to asked for explanation. "However, no need to rush about it," what he got for his earlier reply was a thud coming from under the desk. Ayano's knees were the cause.

Her palms fell on her lap and curled into fists. She raised both her voice and head, "But-" the brown haired stopped dead.

Shintaro had no idea what was happening in this point then, "Aya-"

"Haha sorry, it's nothing." She giggled while stretching out her arm to reach the last piece of puzzle. Guess she took it a second earlier before Shintaro did so. Their fingers tangled and twitched.

"S.. Sorry. Go ahead," he rubbed the back of his head. Yet suddenly she held his another free hand which was standing on the desk with her both hands. Ayano dragged her chair quite closer.

'Yikes' he thought. The situation was getting more and more ridiculous.

"S-Shintaro please.." came her mousey talk. From the way she spoke, this would be something serious, he thought again.  
The grip tightened, Shintaro's eyes widened in shock, their gazes met. "I want us to stay like this.. If it's you I.. I'll be fine," she murmured.

Something weird echoed inside him. Shintaro's mouth fell a little. Ignoring the awkwardness, he stood up.

"I'm going home" he was keeping his voice steady but couldn't look at her in the eyes anymore. Ayano slid the puzzle under her desk and quickly grabbed her bag too, "Waaait!" she whined.

The brown haired was shoeing herself, tried to approach him who had walked out the room.

'Was that a confession or..' Oh well. Shintaro unconsciously had hoped for it.

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Sun was about to drown itself. The orange reflected on their skins like a halo. A girl had desperately clinged onto the boy's sleeve, her cheerful grin had faded somehow.  
Ayano looked down her toes.

Under the blazing heat, at the top of the hill, their blurry figures were walking. "We haven't finished the puzzle yet.." she said, cracking the long silence.

Shintaro groaned, "You can always finished it later, do it by yourself," The heat of the summer was burned into his eyes. "But you know, time doesn't work as simple as it seems. It plays you sometimes," said Ayano.

The black haired glanced at her cluelessly. After all, he would never understand a thing from that girl. Me? A puzzle? You're the one who puzzled me over and over again, miss.  
He shook his head in order to vanished the thought. But Shintaro didn't take an interest to discover any further about her. This was just fine, he seemed to know how the rest would be, his thought was.

Still what's with you today? Now he started looking at Ayano in annoyance.  
Shintaro rolled his eyes, "Like I'd care" he gave an irritated growl as something wrapped around his wrist. He flinched.

"Leave me alone. Go away," said Shintaro and slapped away the brown haired's hand. "I'm not going," she said and took his hand. Once again, he yanked that hand. Hard.

"Tch. You're so annoying!" he walked slightly ahead without turning back.

At the background, Ayano watched his back till he was completely gone from her sight. Warm breeze blew her crimson colored scarf dramatically. Her palms squeezed together on the back. "So, Saying that I want to stay close to you, isn't good enough.. Of course" she forced a painful laughter.

Those trembling palms slowly lifted, covered her glassy view, tears were flowing out. The girl in red scarf continued the laughs between sobs.

"Dangit, dangit, dangit" the black haired gritted his teeth. Under the blazing heat, at the top of a hill, his blurry figure left her heartbreak.

His real heart was..?

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**Puzzled**

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The breeze blows in. The world that became an adult turns on them, like someone's unfairly written plot twist. The tears of her loved one wells up and disappears, and unnoticed by all, turns back.

The lonely girl sat all alone in a classroom. She held onto a piece of puzzle, staring at it for awhile. Someone coincidentally passed by ; It was the black haired boy. Parted behind a door that boy peeked and observed.

"What is she doing" he mumbled to noone particular.

Right.

It was all going wrong. By the time she noticed it, she couldn't tell it to anybody. "No, I don't want it. I don't want it to break." A world where happiness ends is coming.

"Madder red, I beg you, please don't destroy anybody's future any further." Crying, Ayano wracked her brains again, while hiding it all behind a smile. "The eyes red color, if that were me, would I be able to save somebody's future?" It was awkward and clumsy, pathetic and shameful.

Again, Shintaro stared dumbfoundly not knowing a single thing. Now he had to choose ;  
come to her or just walk away.

"..She should be fine by tomorrow morning. I can't deal with girls anyway," said Shintaro to himself, leaving behind the scene just like that. And so he had taken his choice.

_"You'll regret soon"_

A choice that soon will be haunting him for the rest of his life.

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**Puzzled**

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The smile of the girl who sat in the classroom hurting her heart, and hiding it all behind a constant smile. That smile of yours, the girl who jumped from here and disappeared. Leaving only her unfinished puzzle.. Her feelings.

Still, his thought echoes her name -even tomorrow, he, Kisaragi Shintaro will not forget.

A boy who turned eighteen murmured in sleep, "Ayano.." tears welled down his cheeks as the last piece of the unfinished puzzle fell onto ground somewhere.

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**Fin**


End file.
